Call it the case of the missing movie!
On June 15, an unencrypted master copy of a buzzy, unreleased Nicolas Cage thriller was hand-delivered to Netflix’s Hollywood headquarters at the streamer’s request. It was the type of transfer that happens daily around town during a movie sale process. In order to properly review the goods, studios require a version suitable for projecting in a commercial theater, known as a digital cinema package.
The film, titled “Fortitude,” marked a seven-year journey from inception to finished product that included the typical roadblocks and detours.
The plot centers on the character of Dusko Popov, a real-life World War II spy and playboy who served as the inspiration for Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels. At one point, Martin Scorsese was flirting with directing writer Simon Afram’s screenplay as a Leonardo DiCaprio star vehicle.
But instead of Scorsese and DiCaprio, a different director-star “Fortitude” package emerged when Oscar winner Cage re-teamed with his “Con Air” director, Simon West. The film cost $45 million to produce and was personally financed by Afram, a Swiss billionaire who also produced “Fortitude.”
Netflix executives screened the film on June 16, one day after it was delivered.
But nine days after that, Netflix Original Film director Sean Berney acknowledged that the digital cinema package [DCP] for “Fortitude” had been stolen — according to a lawsuit that has been filed in federal court in California’s Central District.
Afram is suing Netflix for $105 million for breach of contract.
The lawsuit includes a June 25 email from Berney to two parties involved with the film.
Berney wrote, according to an email that was included as an exhibit in the legal filing, “This is a first for us. Unfortunately, someone stole a good amount of drives from our office desks this past week. We’ve been working through this with our security teams to no luck. Our piracy teams are on high alert with the breach and will monitor, but they are likely just selling the drives for scrap given they would require a [key delivery message]. We will of course create a new DCP or reimburse you for this missing drive. Apologies again and here to answer anything further and or connect you with our security teams.”
Netflix was essentially offering the filmmakers a service valued at about $800 for a missing $45 million film.
It is unclear what other projects were compromised and remain at large. (And the complaint doesn’t note whether the master was the only copy of the film.) A Netflix source says that the additional missing drives were empty and did not include any content on them.
The lawsuit states: “Netflix’s email indicated that Netflix had known about the theft of the DCP for potentially a full week without ever advising plaintiffs that Netflix had allowed” Fortitude’s DCP “to be stolen right off a Netflix desk.”
Afram is being repped by attorneys Caroline Mankey and Christopher McAndrew at Akerman and Neville Johnson and Hyura Choi at Johnson and Johnson.
The film, which is described in the complaint as “tonally in the vein of ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ meets ‘Inglorious Basterds,’” also stars Ben Kingsley and Ron Perlman. The supporting cast includes Matthew Goode, Michael Sheen, Art Malik, Jordi Mollà and Lukas Haas, as well as Ed Skrein, Alice Eve, Paul Anderson and Emilio Sakraya.
“The resulting damage to Plaintiffs is profound,” the lawsuit says. “Through its mishandling of the Film and subsequent dismissiveness, Netflix has jeopardized Plaintiffs’ investment of over $45 million and the significant value of the Film itself. Netflix has also deprived the Film, its cast, and its creators of the opportunity to bring their work to market and receive recognition that a properly marketed worldwide release likely would have generated.
Netflix provided Page Six Hollywood with a comment.
“Netflix disputes any claim that it bears the risk of loss for a film delivered without the proper industry-standard safeguards. While we do not own the rights to ‘Fortitude,’ we take content security seriously and have taken extra measures to support the filmmaker and his team. This includes conducting a thorough investigation and offering to monitor known piracy sites for any unauthorized distribution or sale. We have declined to share anything about our ongoing investigation with the law firm representing Simon Afram, given their hostile attempts to extort money from Netflix over this situation – including immediately demanding $165 million for the film rather than work with us in good faith.”
Afram’s lawyers arrived at the $105 million figure based on “the early interest from studios and distributors, the film’s high test scores in consumer screen testing, feedback from sales agents, the genre of the film, and other factors, the film can be conservatively estimated to at least break even, which in the motion picture industry translates to revenues of at least 2.5 times the production budget, or $112,500,000,” according to the lawsuit.
In a statement to Page Six Hollywood, Afram says: “I spent seven years of my life bringing this incredible true story to the screen. But this film was never mine alone. It belongs to the extraordinary cast and their performances of a lifetime that deserve to be seen and recognized. It represents the moment these artists have earned.”
Despite the legal drama, the film’s worldwide rights remain available and the film’s sale process continues.
Adds attorney Johnson: “Our clients do not take litigation lightly, but they believe that they have an obligation to the cast and crew to honor their exceptional achievements, to the individuals whose incredible bravery is portrayed in the film, and to their families and other survivors, to ensure that their rights are protected and that this film is given the recognition, respect and accolades that it deserves.”
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